Mechanical adjustable whistle



June 15, 1937. T. RUHLMANN 2,083,669

' MECHANICAL ADJUSTABLE WHISTLE Filed Nov; 19, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 177150004 iw/MMM ATTORNEY.

June 15, 1937. -r.. RUHLMANN f 2,083,669

MECHANICAL ADJUSTABLE WHISTLE Filed No r. 19, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR BY Wu 5 ATTORNEY.

Patented June 15, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCE Claims.

This invention relates to whistles and has for its main object toprovide a whistle in which the pitch, character, value, etc. of the tonemay be changed while playing, in a novel, eflicient, easy 5 manner.

Another object of this invention is to provide a whistle of thischaracter in which said changes may be made in an automatic orsemi-automatic manner by mechanical means.

Still a further object of this invention is to provide a mechanicalwhistle of this type in which the said changes may be effected by theorgans and parts of the mouth of the player easily, quickly andeffectively without removing the whistle from the mouth or manipulatingit in any other manner.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a mechanicalautomatic or semi-automatic whistle wherein a substantially ordinarysimple whistle is enabled to play complicated tunes involving greatvariations in tone, sound and pitch.

Other objects of this invention will be apparent as the specification ofthe same proceeds, and among others I may mention: to provide a whistleas characterized hereinbefore which will be simple in construction,inexpensive to manufacture, adapted to mass manufacturing, easy andreliable to operate, and which will not get out of order and will havelong Wearing qualities.

In the drawings forming a part of this specification, and accompanyingthe same:

Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of my assembled whistle showing it asbeing operated by a player;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof, part of it 35 being broken away, and

Fig. 3 is a partly sectional plan view.

Referring now to the drawings more closely, by characters of reference,the main body of my whistle or the whistle proper is indicated in gen-40 eral by the numeral I0, and it is a hollow body open at both ends, inthe embodiment shown in the drawings being substantially rectangular incross-section, and having a bottom wall II, a top wall I2, a right-handwall I3 and a left-hand 5 side wall I4. The bottom wall II is somewhatcurved and is forwardly shorter than the top wall I2, and the majorportion of the body II] is closed by a front wall or partition I5 fromwhich is projecting an upper front bottom wall l6, having 50 a slightinclination towards the top wall I2, the forward ends of the two forminga narrow sound producing opening II, as will be understood.

To the forward ends of the side walls I3 and I4 is secured a transversehollow cylindrical body 55 I8, being entirely closed by its two endwalls I9 and 20, and having a narrow longitudinal opening or recess 2|in its upper surface, adjacent to and in front of the opening I? of thewhistle proper. A comparatively heavy shaft 22 is journalled in the endwalls I9 and 2|] of the hollow cylinder IS in the center axis thereof,and a radially projecting partition wall 23 is secured on the shaft,rotatable therewith and reaching to the outer wall of the cylinder I8and to the side walls I9 and 20 thereof. The outer end of the 10 radialrotating partition 23 may have a slidable but sealing engagement withthe wall of the cylinder I8, as by the leather seal M.

A second, stationary, radial partition wall 25 is secured in the wall ofthe cylinder I8, preferably 15 adjacent and rearward to the recess oropening 2 I, having slidable but sealing engagement with the shaft 22,as indicated at 26.

A second shaft 2'! is also arranged in my whistle, transverse in thebody Ill thereof, and journalled in the side walls I3 and I4, as at 28and 29.

An operating plate lever 38 is secured on the shaft 27, as by the screwthreads 3 i and the righthand end 32 of said shaft is continued in anarm 33, curved as shown, reaching towards the front and the shaft 22 ofmy whistle. A flexible resilient band 34, of any appropriate materiallike steel is secured to the shaft 22 and wound around it at theprojecting end thereof as at 36, while the other end of the band 34 issecured to the free end of the arm 33 by any appropriate means, asthrough the agency of a cylindrical hollow body 37, in the mannerindicated in Figs. 2 and 3, so that an easily flexible resilientconnection is established between the end 35 of the shaft 22 and thefree end 38 of the arm 33.

A cylindrical housing 29 is provided for the shaft end 35, having acover it and a cut out portion 4|, to allow for the play of the band 34.40

The left-hand end d2 of the shaft 22 is also projecting beyond theopposite end wall 20, and is arranged in a housing 13 with a cover 44,and a spiral spring, generally indicated by the numeral 45, is engagingsaid end of the shaft, being secured thereto, as at 553, and to thehousing 43, as at 41, respectively.

It will be obvious that the tendency of the spring 45 will be to returnthe shaft to its original position after it has been rocked and therocking force removed.

The rearward end of the upper wall I2 of the whistle body and theadjacent portions of the side walls I3 and M are upwardly curved, as at48, and a transverse lug or projection 49 is provided on its uppersurface, in front of said upward bend. The bottom wall H terminatesrearwardly also somewhat before the termination of the upper wall l2,and has a transverse enlargement or lug at its rear end. The plate level36 is projecting rearwardly through the opening of the body iii, as atEl, and also has a transverse projection or ing 52 on its lower surface.

The use and operation of my device is as follows: The rearward wider endof the whistle is inserted into the mouth of the player, as indicated inFig. 1, the upper lip preferably resting against the upper lug ortransverse projection 49, while the lower lip 54 will rest against thelug or projection &3, at the end of the bottom wall ll, the rear opening55 of the whistle being entirely sealed against outside interferencewithin the mouth of the player. The upper teeth 56 preferably may restagainst the rear surface of the projection 49, while the lower teeth 51of the player engage the extension 5i of the plate arm 3d and may restagainst the transverse projection 52 on its lower surface.

The player will blow a current of air through the whistle from the rearthereof, as will be understood, and as indicated by the arrow 52!, andthe air will produce a sound at the narrow front end ll thereof. Whilethe sound is produced by the whistle, the lower teeth bl may operate theplate lever or arm 36 and move it upwardly to a desired degree, asindicated by the arrow 55-}, while the rest of the whistle, and the restof the parts of the mouth engaging it, remain stationary. The upwardmoving of the plate. arm (it will cause the shaft iii to rock and thearm 33 to move downwardly, in the direction of the arrow to, whichmovement will unwind a portion of the band 3% from the shaft 22 andcause the shaft 22 to rock, thereby moving the partition wall 23 in thehollow cylinder 13 in a forward direction, as indicated by the arrowsBl. The amount of the forward movement of the partition wall 23 willinfluence and change the amount of space between said partition wall 23and the upper opening 2i in the hollow cylinder Hi, and the change ofthat space will influence the sound produced at the opening ll.Generally, the smaller the said space the higher and more shrill will bethe voice of the whistle, and the larger the said space the lower willbe the tone of the whistle.

As soon as the lower teeth 51 relax their pressure on the plate arm 3t,spring Ml will automatically rock the shaft 22 in the opposite directionand will return thepartition wall to its original position, as indicatedin Fig. 1, so that an upward movement of the plate arm 30 will make thetone higher, and the relieving of the pressure on said plate arm willmake the tone of the whistle lower and deeper. In this mannor aninfinite variety of tones may be produced in an extremely simple manneron my whistle from a very high and shrill one to a very low and deepone.

Two longitudinal walls 63 may be placed at the two sides of the opening2| to aid in the producing of the sound, and a rubber cover or bag 64may be pulled over the operative end 51 of the plate arm 38 to protectthe lower teeth 51.

What I claim as new, is:

1. In a whistle, having a hollow body one end of which is adapted to beinserted into the mouth of the player to blow a current of airtherethrough, the other end having an exit opening to produce the sound,a closed hollow body secured to the sound producing end thereof, havinga sound modulating opening adjacent to said sound producing opening ofthe whistle, and means in said hollow body to vary its volume of spaceconnected with said modulating opening; said closed hollow body being inthe form of a hollow cylinder, and said means comprising an axial shaftjournalled in the end walls of said hollow cylinder, a radial partitionwall projecting from said shaft and rotatable therewith, the outer endthereof being in sliding but sealing engagement with the walls of saidhollow cylinder, and a stationary radial partition wall the outer end ofwhich is secured to the wall of the cylinder, the inner end being insealing but slidable engagement with said shaft.

2. In a whistle, having a hollow body one end of which is adapted to beinserted into the mouth of the player to blow a current of airtherethrough, the other end having an exit opening to produce the sound,a closed hollow body secured to the sound producing end thereof, havinga sound modulating opening adjacent to said sound producing opening ofthe whistle, and means in said hollow body to vary its volume of spaceconnected with said modulating opening; said closed hollow body being inthe form of a hollow cylinder, and said means comprising an axial shaftjournalled in the end walls of said hollow cylinder, .a radial partitionwall projecting from said shaft and rotatable therewith, the outer endthereof being in sliding but sealing engagement with the walls of saidhollow cylinder, and a stationary radial partition wall the outer end ofwhich is secured to the wall of the cylinder, the inner end being insealing but slidable engagement with said shaft; a member op-- erated byan organ in the mouth of the player and a connection between said memberand said shaft to rock the shaft by the movement of said member.

3. In a whistle, having a hollow body one end of which is adapted to beinserted into the mouth of the player to blow a current of airtherethrough, the other end having an exit opening to produce the sound,a closed hollow body secured to the sound producing end thereof, havinga sound modulating opening adjacent to said sound producing openingofthe whistle, and means in said hollow body to vary its volume of spaceconnected with said modulating opening; said closed hollow body being inthe form of a hollow cylinder, and said means comprising an axial shaftjournalled in the end walls of said hollow cylinder, a radial partitionwall projecting from said shaft and rotatable therewith, the outer endthereof being in sliding but sealing engagement with the walls of saidhollow cylinder, and a stationary radial partition wall the outer end ofwhich is secured to the Wall of the cylinder, the inner end being insealing but slidable engagement with said shaft; a member operated by anorgan in the mouth of the player and a connection between said memberand said shaft to rock the shaft by the movement of said member; and asecond shaft in the whistle body, said member being in the form of anarm rotatable with said second shaft and adapted to project into themouth of the player.

4. A mechanical whistle comprising a substantially prismatic hollowbody, one end being adapted to be inserted into the mouth of the player,to blow an air current therethrough, the other, front end being open andadapted to produce a sound, a closed hollow cylinder secured on thefront end of said whistle body, transversely thereof and space withinsaid hollow cylinder, a shaft in the axis of said cylinder journalleclin its end walls, a rotating partition wall radially secured on saidshaft for the whole length of said cylinder, being in sliding butsealing engagement with the Walls 10 thereof; a second stationary radialpartition wall secured into the outer wall of said cylinder adjacent toand in the rear of said modulating opening, traversing the entire lengthof the cylinder, and being in a sliding but sealing engagement 15 withsaid shaft, a second shaft journalled in the side walls of the whistlebody transversely thereof, a lever secured on said second shaft,rockable therewith, its free end adapted to project into the mouth ofthe player and being adapted to be operated by the lower teeth, ayielding resilient connection between said second shaft and said firstshaft whereby the upward movements of said lever arm will be transmittedto said first shaft, and means to automatically return said first shaftupon the release of said lever arm.

5. In a mechanical whistle as set forth in claim 4, said connectioncomprising a second arm at one end of said second shaft, and a flexibleresilient band secured to said first shaft and to the free end of saidsecond arm, respectively.

THEODOR RUHLMANN.

